The Vega Avenue Studio Lofts doesn’t just overlook its namesake street. The apartment building, clad in wood shiplap siding, will also overlook Interstate 90, set immediately south of the BVQ Lofts in the former J. Spang Bakery Building (Vocon). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Latest project in Cleveland’s newest hot zone
If it seems like a new development is popping up just about every month in Cleveland’s Barber-Vega-Queen (BVQ) District, you’re right. The latest to pop up on public records is the Vega Avenue Studio Lofts.
NEOtrans has been hinting at this project for a while, most recently last month when two other developments nearby in the BVQ District were revealed. This latest one is proposed to rise at 2700 Vega Ave. in Cleveland’s Clark-Fulton neighborhood of which the BVQ District is a part.
Unlike those affordable housing developments, which are seeking Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, Vega Avenue Studio Lofts isn’t. It’s a market-rate apartment building. But it isn’t going to test rents at the top of the market, either.
Instead, by offering smaller studio and one-bedroom apartments, it will likely fit into the category of workforce housing for households earning anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on the project’s final construction cost, according to documents filed with the city.
Site plan for the Vega Avenue Studio Lofts with the existing BVQ Lofts above or north of the site (Vocon).
Cleveland-based Seaton Woods submitted plans on Friday for the 45-unit apartment building to the city for design-review, according to public records. Seaton Woods previously redeveloped the neighboring J. Spang Bakery, 2801 Barber Ave., into the 69-unit BVQ Lofts in 2019.
Ben Beckman, president of Seaton Woods, told NEOtrans that he hopes to start construction on the 31,000-square-foot, four-story building in October, pending city approvals. The 0.24-acre parcel of land is owned by a Seaton Woods affiliate Vega Zone Assembly LLC, property records show.
The project proposes to include some cost-saving sustainable features — including geothermal heating and cooling, plus rooftop solar panels to produce electricity. Both are contingent on grant funding being secured, according to an April 2 letter sent by project architect Vocon Partners of Cleveland to the City Planning Commission.
The project investment is estimated at a surprisingly paltry $5.75 million, comprised of a combination of owner-direct equity investment, conventional bank financing, and grant funding to be determined, the letter explained. No commercial space in the building is planned.
West side of the proposed Vega Avenue Studio Lofts shows a challenge of constructing urban developments and restoring urban densities to neighborhoods where existing housing remains (Vocon).
LEED for Homes Silver certification is sought. There will be only 13 off-street parking spaces, with more on the street and an indoor bike parking area. The site is just west of West 25th Street, route of a planned $50 million MetroHealth Line bus rapid transit project that Beckman says is a big reason for his investment here.
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority officials said they plan to finish design work in 2025 and, pending the availability of federal funding, start construction in 2026 on the MetroHealth Line. It would be a 4-mile bus rapid transit project along West 25th from Detroit Avenue in Ohio City to downtown Old Brooklyn.
Beckman has even bigger plans for land nearby at the Joy Court site, but it isn’t as far along in the planning for it yet. If planning work advances for it in a timely manner, it could be the next development to be revealed on a near-monthly basis for the BVQ District.
Along and north of Barber, west of West 30th Street, Beckman has acquired land, including the former Joy Court alley, and demolished structures for a new 100- to 120-unit apartment building plus for-sale townhomes.
A view showing the north or backside of the Vega Avenue Studio Lofts and its parking lot shared with the neighboring BVQ Lofts (Vocon).
Some of the other proposed buildings first reported by NEOtrans in recent months include those in Hub 27 — a multi-building vision for a 6-acre site at 2500 W. 27th St. So far, three buildings offering a total of 200 affordable apartments have been announced for Hub 27, although another building or two could fit onto the large site.
While Opportune Development LLC owns the land for Hub 27, its lead developer is Pivotal Development LLC, of West Chester, OH, near Cincinnati. Other partners in Hub 27 include the Clark-Fulton nonprofit Metro West Community Development Organization and St. Mary Development Corp. of Dayton.
The announced Hub 27 buildings are all seeking Low Income Housing Tax Credits from the Ohio Housing Finance Authority. So is Wallick Development, LLC of New Albany, OH for a 60-apartment refugee housing development called Depot Lofts at 30th. It is proposed to be located at 3119 Train Ave., also within the BVQ District.
Another development in the district is the St. Joseph Commons transitional housing that opened in 2020. At the west end of the BVQ District, the former Leisy Brewery property is back on the market and could be a future redevelopment site.
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